According to Mashable a hacker group calling themselves Scriptkiddies broke into the Fox News Politics twitter account @foxnewspolitics on July 4th and started sending fake tweets about President Barack Obama being assassinated at Ross’ Restaurant in Iowa. The tweets were still online 3 hours after being posted.

So, why did the hackers pick Ross’ Restaurant in Iowa?

Ross’ Restaurant was just featured on The Rachel Maddow Show after Obama made a stop at the restaurant to fulfill a campaign promise he had made 3 years earlier.

“The President during his Tuesday visit to the 24-hour eatery had ordered four Magic Mountains–grilled Texas toast topped with loose steamed hamburger meat, piled high with a choice of French fries or hash browns, homemade cheddar cheese sauce, as well as two Volcanoes, which is the Magic Mountain with the addition of a scoop of 5-alarm meat chili and onions on top. “

The Rachel Maddow Show clip features restaurant owner Cynthia Ross-Freidhof and her daughter Melissa Freidhof-Rogers making a “Magic Mountain” and a “Volcano” on air. According to Obama Foodorama: “It was the first time food has ever been featured on the political commentary program.”

Melissa, conscious of the Let’s Move campaign asked Obama Foodorama to issue an apology to The First Lady for publicizing food that does not fit in with her campaign. She was relieved to hear that Michelle Obama loves French Fries and believes in moderation which could include an occasional “Magic Mountain.”

So, perhaps the hackers choice of Ross’ Restaurant in Iowa was simply a matter of timing — a familiar name due to recent media publicity. But clearly if you follow the news at all Obama had been there days earlier and left the restaurant alive and well. Using Ross’ in such a negative way is an unfortunate blow to the owners who were riding high on such positive and unexpected attention. I just wonder why the hackers targeted them as well as Fox News?

Author

Wendy Goodfriend

I am the Senior Interactive Producer for KQED Food. I have designed and produced food-related websites and blogs for KQED including Bay Area Bites; Check, Please! Bay Area; Taste This; Jacques Pepin's websites; Weir Cooking in the City and KQED Food. When I am not creating and managing food websites I am taking photos and video of Bay Area Life and designing online navigation systems. My professional education and training includes: clinical psychology, photography, commercial cooking, web design, information architecture and UX. You can find me engaged in social media on Twitter @bayareabites and on Facebook at Bay Area Bites. I can also be found photoblogging at look2remember.